<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Worth The Wait by Marvel_Mania</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24598729">Worth The Wait</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvel_Mania/pseuds/Marvel_Mania'>Marvel_Mania</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Meet-Cutes [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Baker Bucky Barns, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Soulmate-Identifying Marks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:34:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24598729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvel_Mania/pseuds/Marvel_Mania</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky found out who his soulmate was when he was still young. "I’ve never liked bullies. It doesn’t matter where they’re from," his words read. He was at a museum when he heard them said by a recording of Captain America, the only problem is that Captain America died during the war. </p><p>(Bucky spends the majority of his life thinking Steve is dead until the meet.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Meet-Cutes [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>315</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Worth The Wait</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this was a lot longer than I thought it would be, not that I'm complaining. I absolutely love Captain America Steve and Modern Bucky more than I can put into words so here is my contribution. </p><p>Usual thanks to my amazing friends for proofreading and dealing with me in general. Love you guys!</p><p>Enjoy the story!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Unlike most people, Bucky found out who his soulmate was when he was still really young. It didn’t hurt that his words weren’t exactly common. He had been in second grade when his parent had taken him to a museum, ‘a great educational opportunity’ they had said when he found out who his soulmate was.</p><p>Bucky’s father had been a big history nerd because his father had fought alongside Captain America himself, so George had taken Bucky and a heavily pregnant Winnifred to a new World War II museum that was based around Captain America and his team. The special thing about this museum was that it was the very first to have an audible video recording of Captain America.</p><p>It was almost noon and Bucky was starting to get a little cranky since he had gotten up early. “I’ll take James to the theatre while you walk around a little more and then we can grab a bite to eat,” Winnifred said with a smile. “It would also do me well to get off of my feet for a spell.”</p><p>George had kissed his wife and said something about her being the best wife in the world and went off to explore the museum some more. When they got to the film room, a clip of Peggy Carter was playing. She was talking about how Captain Rogers had saved the man who would later become her husband. After her interview, Captain Rogers came on the screen and Bucky couldn’t help be stare in amazement at the man that seemed larger than life but then he spoke and he said Bucky’s words. “<em>I’ve never liked bullies. It doesn’t matter where they’re from,</em>” he said.</p><p>Those were the words on Bucky’s left wrist. The black handwriting, Captain Rogers’ handwriting, turned a beautiful gold that signified that his soulmate was the one who said those words. Captain America was his soulmate and he told his mom as much. She had known the minute the words had played. She had given birth to him and she had been one of the first people to ever read the words on her son’s wrist. “Ma, ma, he said my words,” Bucky said quietly because they were still in the theatre, “he’s my soulmate.”</p><p>“Yes, Jamie,” she said softly. She took his hand and quietly lead him out of the theatre and looked for George. “George, we need to talk,” she had said and lead them both out.</p><p>“Is everything okay? Becca isn’t coming, is she,” he asked looking over Winnifred.</p><p>“No, James has found his soulmate,” she said and paused to steady herself, “Steven Rogers is James’ soulmate.”</p><p>“Steve, you mean Captain America,” George asked, completely stunned.</p><p>“Yes,” she said. “Jamie, can we see your words?”</p><p>Bucky nodded happily and showed his parents his now golden words. He was so happy. He had the best soulmate in the world as far as he was concerned. The car ride back to their apartment was silent but Bucky didn’t really care, he was still in cloud nine.</p><p>When they got to their apartment, George and Winnifred sat Bucky down on the couch and talked to him. “Jamie, baby, we found out who your soulmate is but you knew that,” Winnifred said.</p><p>“It’s Captain America,” he said happily.</p><p>“We know, Bucky. That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” George said cautiously.</p><p>“Honey, Captain Rogers is your soulmate. We know that this is very exciting for you but you can’t tell anyone who your soulmate is.”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Because Captain Rogers is a very public figure. Some people wouldn’t believe that you really are his soulmate or they may want to hurt you because of it,” George tried.</p><p>“But Captain America wouldn’t let anyone hurt me. I’m his soulmate,” Bucky said, not getting it.</p><p>“James, this will be hard to hear but it is important you know. Captain Rogers died a very long time ago,” Winnifred tried to say easily.</p><p>“But he’s my soulmate. He can’t be dead,” Bucky said but there were tears in his eyes. His parents were telling him that his soulmate, the person the universe intended him to be with, was dead and had been since before he was even born.</p><p>Winnifred pulled Bucky into her arms as well as she could considering that she was two weeks away from her due date. “Sometimes the universe makes a mistake, it gets it wrong sometimes. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen sometimes, my love. Some people don’t have soulmates at all. Yours was just born in the wrong time,” she explained.</p><p>“But he’s my soulmate,” Bucky said again but now he was crying. George joined in on the group hug, wrapping his arms around both of them.</p><p>Bucky cried for the rest of the night and a few days following. Even years later, he would still sometimes cry himself to sleep over it. He didn’t have his perfect match because they were dead. When Bucky finally stopped crying, he decided that even though his soulmate was dead, he wanted to make him proud. He tried to learn everything about his soulmate as he could but that only hurt.</p><p>•••</p><p>Growing up knowing that Steve Rogers, America’s golden boy, was meant to be your soulmate was a lot of pressure even if nobody knew. Bucky knew. He had grown up trying to be exactly like Steve, wanting his soulmate to be proud of him even though Steve wasn’t around. He mostly wore long sleeves. He didn’t want anyone to look at his words and just somehow know that Steve was his soulmate or that his soulmate was dead.</p><p>Winnifred had always said it was Steve who was born in the wrong time but Bucky wasn’t sure. Steve had done so much good in his lifetime, saved not only the country but the world, that it felt like Bucky was the mistake. He didn’t tell anyone this, anyone living anyways.</p><p>His parents had taken him to a therapist when he was still young. It had been three years after Bucky had found out his soulmate was dead and his parents were worried. He had overheard his ma telling his dad, “he’s not the same. He’s sad and that’s understandable but I’m worried about him, George.” A month later he was seeing a therapist regularly.</p><p>His therapist was a nice man, Phil Coulson, who was consistent and patient with Bucky. Bucky always thought that Mr. Coulson normally worked with grownups because his office didn’t have stuffed animals or childish drawings like the other two therapists that Bucky had seen before him. He also never talked down to Bucky as if he didn’t know how he felt simply because he was young.</p><p>After he had started seeing Mr. Coulson, Bucky’s mental health and overall outlook had improved. In one of their early sessions, Mr. Coulson had suggested that Bucky visit his soulmate’s grave if his parents allowed him and that he should write letters to his soulmate. “They don’t have to be anything special, just tell them what you would if they were standing next to you,” he had said.</p><p>At first, Bucky had thought it was ridiculous but after he had done it the first time, he understood why Mr. Coulson had recommended it. He continued writing letters to Steve, dating them so he could see how he had felt at certain times.</p><p>Bucky ended up professionally seeing Mr. Coulson until he was eighteen and he was going to college. By that point, Phil (“you’re eighteen. You’re all grown up now, you can call me Phil) had helped him. Bucky still had low points sometimes but he knew how to deal with them in a healthy way. On his last session, Phil had given Bucky his personal card and told him to call if he ever needed anything else.</p><p>At first, Bucky had hesitated to call Phil but then he had. Phil had been in his life longer than most people and although Phil was twenty years older than him, Bucky considered him a friend.</p><p>•••</p><p>“You’ve gotten soft,” Fury said when Phil hung up the phone.</p><p>“I can’t help it. I’ve watched this boy grow up,” Phil said. He had had a smile on his face, Bucky had just told him that he landed his dream job and opened his own bakery. He still wasn’t certain why Fury had told him to go undercover once a week as this boy’s therapist. “Why are we watching him?” As far as Phil could tell, Bucky was just an average kid who had gone through the trauma of losing his soulmate while still young.</p><p>“You counseled him for years, why do you think?” Typical Fury, answering a question with a question.</p><p>“As I stated, I’ve watched James grow up, my judgment is clouded.”</p><p>“At least you can tell,” Fury muttered. “James himself is normal, smart but not SHIELD level. What makes him different is his soulmate.”</p><p>Phil gave him a look because how the hell did Fury know who Bucky’s soulmate was when Phil had acted as the boy’s therapist for nearly a decade and hadn’t gotten him to admit who his soulmate was. “His soulmate is dead. He and his family are pretty positive about that.”</p><p>“I’m not too sure about that,” was all Fury said.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll bite. Who is his soulmate and how the hell do you know who it is?”</p><p>“Captain Steve Rogers is James Barnes’ soulmate. We know this because of pure luck. When the search for Captain Rogers began, a museum opened and Mrs. Carter went to check it out. She was there when Barnes found out who his soulmate was. She had just stepped down as director but I owed her a few favors. She said that she owed it to Captain Rogers to make sure that his soulmate was taken care of and asked me to personally keep an eye on him.”</p><p>“Bucky Barnes, the boy I have known since he was ten and still calls me, is Captain America’s soulmate? The boy who just opened a bakery?”</p><p>“Yes,” was all Fury said.</p><p>“Wait, you think Captain America is alive? He’s been missing for nearly seventy years.”</p><p>“He was a super-soldier. Based on Erskine’s notes the scientists believe that he may be alive somewhere.”</p><p>“But James,” Phil said.</p><p>“Isn’t to know that Captain America is suspected of being alive,” Fury said as it that was it on the matter. It should have been, Fury was the director of SHIELD after all but Phil had gotten soft and he didn’t want to see Bucky hurt. “Do I make myself clear, Coulson?”</p><p>“Yes, but what if we find Captain Rogers alive? Is James to know then?”</p><p>“We will worry about that after we find Captain Rogers.”</p><p>•••</p><p>Steve had always wondered what he had done to cause his soulmate to tell him, “<em>you’re my soulmate but you’re dead</em>.” His soulmate’s neat handwriting was written just above Steve’s heart. He had once thought that maybe Peggy had been his soulmate. He had thought that maybe the serum would almost make him a new person and make his words and Peggy’s match but that hadn’t happened. When he first got to Europe, he thought maybe his soulmate was another solider. He wondered if one of his missions would go wrong but he’d still live.</p><p>He thought that his chances of finding his soulmate had died when he crashed the Valkyrie and could feel himself starting to freeze. He whispered a quiet, “I’m so sorry,” to his soulmate wherever they were. He hoped that in sacrificing his life, his soulmate would live.</p><p>He had been so sure that he was going to die, had been ready to die, that waking up was rather alarming. He hadn’t expected to wake up in general so waking up seventy years after he had gone into the ice had really messed with him at first.</p><p>“You’ve been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years,” a man, who was later introduced as Director Fury, told him after he had run into the street.</p><p>With his thawing, as it was so affectionately called by SHIELD agents, he found hope that he might yet still find his soulmate though he didn’t know where to start. He didn’t know if his soulmate was old, like he was supposed to be, or young, like how he still looked.</p><p>SHIELD was good to him. Everyone was friendly if not a little standoffish but still nice. They put him up in Brooklyn and let him readjust. He had asked that the world not know Captain America was alive just yet. He wanted to get his feet on solid ground before the rug was pulled out from under him. He was just trying to adjust to civilian life in a new century. He had found out the status of his old team and Peggy but he stayed in his apartment if he wasn’t running early in the morning or breaking punching bags late at night.</p><p>•••</p><p>Bucky was having one of his bad days. They didn’t happen often anymore but he was a mess when they did. He had to call Becca, who usually only worked part-time at his bakery, and ask if she could handle the bakery without him that day. Becca had assured him that she and Winnifred, who also occasionally helped out, could handle it. “I hope you feel better soon, Bucky,” she said before Bucky thanked her and hung up.</p><p>He had been determined to deal with it himself before he heard Phil’s voice in his head. “When you are low, there is no shame in asking or letting others lift you up.” So, he had picked up his phone again and called Phil.</p><p>“Coulson,” Phill said after the second ring.</p><p>“Hey, Phil. It’s me, uh, Bucky,” Bucky said a little uselessly.</p><p>“Yes, I have caller ID. Are you okay,” Phil asked.</p><p>“I’m having a bad day, like really bad. Any advice or maybe I could see you? Do you have lunch plans,” Bucky said quickly.</p><p>“Lunch will be okay. Do you want to choose time and place or should I?”</p><p>Bucky thought for a moment before saying, “you.”</p><p>“Alright. We will meet at the small shawarma place you like at noon. Okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, sounds good,” Bucky said.</p><p>Bucky hung up and looked at the time. He had time to get a quick shower and then walk to the shawarma place. Phil was already there when Bucky got there.</p><p>After spending enough time with Phil, Bucky had learned when the man was stressed. The man never showed any actual stress but he seemed to fortify himself. He became slightly sharper around the edges for a while until the majority of the stress had passed and then he was back to normal. Phil never seemed completely relaxed, Bucky guessed it had something to do with helping other people with their problems all day, but there were times he seemed more at peace than other times.</p><p>“What’s got you all tense,” Bucky teased.</p><p>“Work related,” was all Phil said. Bucky knew that all of his work was classified, doctor-patient confidentiality and all that. “What all have you done today? You seemed pretty in your head earlier.”</p><p>“I called you, showered, and then walked here,” Bucky muttered.</p><p>“Have you written any letters or visited your soulmate recently,” Phil asked.</p><p>“I wrote to him last week. I know that it’s only hard because I know he’s dead. I sometimes think it would be easier if I never knew. My soulmate he was this amazing person. He always fought for what he believed in and nothing could stop him. It’s hard to live up to that when your soulmate was so perfect,” Bucky said.</p><p>“Bucky, we’ve been over this. Nobody is perfect and there is no need to compare yourself to your soulmate. You are, always have been, and always will be enough. Soulmates are not mirror images of each other. They are meant to complement and help each other and they can’t do that if they are exact copies of each other,” Phil told him gently. This was a conversation they had had more than once but Phil hoped this was a conversation they wouldn’t need to have many more times since Steve was alive.</p><p>“Thanks, Phil. I sometimes forget why you were such an amazing therapist,” Bucky said and his mood lifted a little. “Tell me about your soulmate.”</p><p>“She’s a cellist,” Phil said. Typically Phil didn’t talk about his personal life but when Bucky was having one of his bad days, Phil would concede and talk to him some about his own soulmate. Seeing happy soulmates helped him somehow, knowing that he was the oddity helped because that meant others were happy. “I met her while traveling for work. I knew as soon as I saw her, before she even said the words. She used to live in Portland, I had been ready to move to Portland, but she decided to move to New York with me.”</p><p>“I’m glad,” Bucky said a little wistfully. “My ma and dad were high school sweethearts. They met when my ma moved here from Iowa. He said that before he ever spoke to her, he knew they’d get married even if they weren’t soulmates.”</p><p>After their lunch together, Bucky felt much better. He went to his bakery, Brooklyn Buns, and relieve his mother and sister. Peter, a local high schooler who worked part-time, was already there. Bucky tried to employ people who really needed it and he tried to use it to help people get back on their feet after a rough go of things. He didn’t really have a dress code, just wear your apron and cover any visible tattoos. The second rule was a cover for him so he was able to cover the golden writing on his wrist.</p><p>“Hi, Mr. Barnes, are you feeling better,” Peter asked with a smile. Peter was always a sweet kid who genuinely cared about others.</p><p>“I’ve told you, call me Bucky. I’m doing much better, just had a rough morning,” he said and ruffled Peter’s hair.</p><p>After that, they fell into the easiness of routine. Brooklyn Buns has been open for five years and was doing well. He had hired Peter a year ago but Peter had learned fast. They worked in relative silence for most of the day except for the music that played. Bucky liked music from the thirties and forties, it reminded him of Steve and his costumers seemed to like it or at least not mind it so that’s what played in the background.</p><p>They talked to their regulars and made polite small talk with other costumers. Peter left two hours before closing and Bucky went about his normal routine. His life was a big routine but he didn’t mind, he liked it. He liked the consistency and he liked interacting with people. All things considered, Bucky was pretty happy with the life he had made for himself.</p><p>•••</p><p>After a few months out of the ice, Steve started quietly working with SHIELD. The world was still oblivious to the fact that Steve had been found and was alive. A few close people knew he was alive though.</p><p>He had seen Peggy, she had lived a good life. She had found her soulmate, a man by the name of Daniel Sousa, and they had had a few kids together. Steve was happy for her, she deserved to be happy. He had talked to Dum Dum and Gabe over the phone but had yet to see them. Other than those three, every one from his previous life was dead. He visited the grave of Johnathan Barnes since he was buried in the city. He had looked into all of his former teammates. Most of them had had families after the war. If Steve wasn’t mistaken Johnathan had a son and a few grandkids.</p><p>Steve had considered visiting them, they still lived in Brooklyn, but decided against it. He hadn’t met Johnathan’s wife, though he had talked about her during the war, it felt like he would be overstepping if he looked too closely into any of his teammates’ families or lives after the war if he couldn’t talk to the Howlies directly. He was happy that they had each lived a life he hadn’t been able to while stuck in the ice.</p><p>At night or on long missions, Steve would place a hand over the writing above his heart. He hadn’t been actively looking for his soulmate, most people didn’t give him a second glance since it was believed that Captain America was dead, but it was a reminder that maybe at one point he could have had what his former teammates had. If he let himself hope, he thought that he still might be able to have that but he didn’t allow himself to hope often.</p><p>“Debriefing tomorrow at twelve hundred hours. Until then, everyone go home and get some rest,” Coulson said when the landed. They had been on a three-week mission that had been draining. It wasn’t too late but Coulson was kind enough to give them the rest of the night off.</p><p>Coulson was more of a puzzle than most SHIELD agents to Steve. Sure, most of them were trained in lies and taught to keep secrets but Coulson was different somehow. Natasha and Clint both said he acted a little off around Steve but nothing major. “I don’t know, it’s like he’s wary of you or something,” Clint had tried to explain when Steve asked about it once. Shaking his head, Steve decided that Coulson was a puzzle he didn’t have the energy for now and he started back to his apartment.</p><p>Steve walked most places in the city unless he needed to be somewhere quickly. He liked to look and see what all had changed and how it was still changing. He didn’t worry about getting mugged, he had been getting into back-alley fights since he was a teenager and there was now the small fact that he was a super-soldier.</p><p>While walking home he tried to remember if he had any food at his apartment but couldn’t remember. He considered going to the store but reconsidered at a moment. He was about to just go to his apartment and deal with food in the morning when he noticed he was about to pass a bakery and he was only three blocks from his apartment. There was a light on inside and there wasn’t a closed sign, though Steve didn’t see anyone. Thinking, ‘<em>what the hell, why not</em>,’ Steve tried the door and it opened.</p><p>The little bell overhead made a slight jingle but then there was quiet except for the music, honest to god music and not some of the noise that was now considered music, that played. Without yelling but being loud enough to be heard in the back Steve called, “are you still open?”</p><p>Instead of an actual response a man, a very attractive man, came out from the back. The man had an apron on, he had cloudy blue eyes, and his hair was tied into something that looked like it was supposed to be a ponytail. He smiled politely, opened his mouth to say something, looked a little closer at Steve, and then closed his mouth for a moment before speaking. When he spoke, his words were shaky and unsure. When he spoke, he said Steve’s words. “<em>You’re my soulmate but you’re dead</em>.”</p><p>Steve involuntarily took a step back. Steve wanted to look at his words but he couldn’t really justify stripping in the middle of a bakery so he kept his short on. He wondered how the man, Bucky was embroidered in neat cursive on the apron, knew so confidentially that Steve was his soulmate. A lot of people must come in asking if the store is open and most people don’t automatically peg him as Captain America so the man had no reason to assume he was dead.</p><p>A small choked noise brought Steve to his surrounding. Bucky, Steve’s just going to assume that’s his name until told otherwise, was crying and he had a hand covering his mouth. Steve tried to say something but he didn’t know what. “Are you real? Are you a ghost,” he asked though it was muffled because of the hand and the crying.</p><p>“I’m real. Can I come closer,” Steve asked. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to comfort his soulmate but he didn’t want to overstep his bounds. Bucky nodded but didn’t say anything else. Steve got to counter and paused again. “May I hug or touch you?”</p><p>Once again, a nod. Steve jumped the counter and wrapped the crying man in his arms. Bucky rested his head on Steve’s chest, over his heart, and cried for a moment. “You were gone before I ever had you. You were dead for seventy years.”</p><p>“I’m here now,” Steve tried. He held Bucky as tight as he dared, not wanting to hurt him with his super-soldier strength.</p><p>Steve knew that if anyone walked in or even looked through the windows they would probably be concerned but Steve could be bothered to worry too much about it right now. Eventually, Bucky pulled himself together but he didn’t try to move. Steve could hear that his breathing and heartbeat had slowed. “How,” Bucky asked softly. If Steve didn’t have advanced hearing, he probably would have missed it.</p><p>“It’s kind of a long story. Do you want to go somewhere else, somewhere where someone can’t just walk in, and I’ll tell you or I can tell you here,” Steve replied.</p><p>“Oh, you came in here to get food right? There aren’t many leftovers but you can have them if you want or we can go to a restaurant or I can cook something or...”</p><p>Bucky just kind of fell silent as if he ran out of words. “We can do whatever you are comfortable with, Bucky.”</p><p>That caused Bucky to look up in surprise. “How do you know my name?”</p><p>“It’s on your apron,” Steve said and so help him, he blushed.</p><p>“Oh,” Bucky said and he started to get a blush to match Steve’s. “Can we go to eat somewhere? I’ll just have to close up. You can still have the leftover pastries if you want.”</p><p>“Of course. I’m going to let go now, okay?”</p><p>Bucky simply nodded and then they both released the other. Steve watched as Bucky went on autopilot and got all the leftover pastries, which there weren’t many of, into two to-go containers and went about closing the bakery. Steve could tell that Bucky was going through the motions, following a routine that had been ingrained by months or possibly a few years.</p><p>They had decided on take out after Bucky had finished closing. Bucky also suggested his apartment since it was close to a Chinese place and the bakery. Bucky assumes that he would be safe with Captain America, his soulmate, but if something went wrong Bucky wanted to know the layout. Steve figures that he was safe because Bucky seemed so shaken up but he also seemed genuinely nice, plus if it was some kind of trap Steve could protect himself.</p><p>Once they got to Bucky’s apartment, with enough food to feed an army or one single super-soldier, they both seemed to relax a small degree. They are in the living room but managed to talk while they are. When they had gotten into the apartment, Bucky had taken off a plain black sleeve that covered his left forearm but stopped at his wrist so his hand was uncovered. Steve had silently watched as golden words came into sight. They weren’t the words he had said tonight but words he had said a lifetime ago.</p><p>“Can I ask when? When you found out,” Steve asked carefully after he had stared at the gold on Bucky’s wrist for quite a while.</p><p>“You can ask. Doesn’t mean I’ll tell you,” Bucky said but there was something about his voice. Steve looked at his face and Bucky had a teasing smirk. “But I will. I was seven. My ma, dad, and I went to a museum about you. Uh, my grandpa always told my dad stories about you when dad was growing up so dad was a big history buff. Ma was really pregnant and I was getting tired so we went to the film room to sit.”</p><p>“Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to,” Steve said with a hand on Bucky’s knee.</p><p>Bucky shook his head and kept going after he took a deep breath. “A clip of Mrs. Carter was playing when we went in and then a clip of you started and you said my words. That night my parents explained to me that I couldn’t tell anyone about you because you were a national icon and the entire world knew who you were. They were worried about me and what others might do. They also explained that you were gone. When I finally understood what they meant, I started covering my mark in public. Everyone wanted to congratulate me, I had found my soulmate so young and we could spend the rest of our lives together they would say. Little did they know I thought I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life.”</p><p>“I apologized to you when I crashed the plane. I guess you weren’t even born, hell your father probably wasn’t born yet. I knew that I was leaving my soulmate when I crashed. I thought it was worth it if it meant that they, you, would live but it still hurt. I guess it was a good decision since it meant that I walked into your bakery today,” Steve said with a shy smile.</p><p>“Where are your words,” Bucky asked softly. The food was mostly forgotten.</p><p>“Over my heart.”</p><p>“Can I see them?”</p><p>Steve nodded and took off his shirt. The words he was so used to had changed. Not the words themselves but they were now golden. Bucky reached out, as if he were going to touch Steve, but paused. Steve gently took his wrist and placed Bucky’s palm over his heart.</p><p>They talked, Steve learned that Bucky was Johnathan’s grandson and that sure as hell made Steve feel old, until the early hours of the morning. Steve didn’t need much sleep but he had been going nonstop for the past three weeks and exhaustion was starting to set in and Steve could see that Bucky was also starting to fade. “I should be heading to my apartment and you should sleep,” Steve said softly.</p><p>“Can I have your phone number,” Bucky asked. He knew that he had to let Steve go but he was scared that if he did, Steve wouldn’t come back.</p><p>“Of course. Can I have your phone then?”</p><p>Bucky passed his phone over and then seemed to remember something. “I’ll be right back,” he said and then got up from the couch. While he was gone Steve started to clean up what he could. When Bucky came back he had two shoeboxes that he set on the table while getting the leftover food and pastries and getting a bag for Steve.</p><p>“What’s in the shoeboxes,” he asked.</p><p>Bucky blushed a little. “I wasn’t mentally healthy when I learned that you were dead. I ended up seeing a therapist from the time I was ten until I was eighteen and he’s a close family friend now. To help me cope he suggested that I write you letters or visit your grave when I was ready. I did visit you on occasion but I mainly wrote letters. I never thought I’d give them to you or that you’d read them but they were written to you if you want them,” Bucky said and he held out the boxes almost like a shield.</p><p>“I’d be honored,” Steve said and Bucky relaxed.</p><p>“Just so you know there are close to eighteen years worth of letters. Most are pretty boring though, just stuff I wished I’d be able to tell you if I could. That’s a lot of reading,” Bucky commented.</p><p>“And I’ll read all of them,” he said. Bucky walked Steve to the door where they stalled for a moment. Bucky didn’t want Steve to go and Steve didn’t want to go. After a pause, Steve pulled Bucky into a hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he whispered into Bucky’s neck.</p><p>When he pulled away, Bucky pulled him back in and kissed him. It was chaste but there were years of emotions behind it for both of them; years of pain, loneliness, hurt, and now against all odds hope.</p><p>•••</p><p>Bucky didn’t open the bakery that day. He called Peter and Ned and told them that they didn’t need to come in today but he would still pay them for the day. Bucky tried to treat his people well. He put a sorry sign on his window and explained that Brooklyn Buns would be closed for the day. Next, he called Becca and his parents and asked if they could all meet.</p><p>They decided that Winnifred and George’s apartment would be best. Bucky got there before Becca and Winnifred fretted over him for a moment. “Is everything alright, James? Are you okay? Has something happened,” she asked as she looked him over as if she hadn’t seen him a few days ago and talked to him on the phone yesterday.</p><p>“I’m fine, Ma. I just need to tell you guys and Becca something but I want to wait until Becca gets here,” he said and that was enough for Winnifred for the moment. George pulled Bucky into a hug when he saw him and ruffled his hair.</p><p>“You haven’t had a haircut since Christmas.”</p><p>“You said that at Thanksgiving,” Bucky said with a smile.</p><p>Winnifred and Bucky started baking while Goethe sat at the island and simply watched them with a smile. They used to do this before Becca was born, it was how Winnifred tried to cheer Bucky up after he had been told that his soulmate was dead, and then Becca joined George at the island while Winnifred and Bucky bakes.</p><p>Sure enough, when Becca got there she silent sat at the island and watched. After cookies were put in the oven they all went to the living room. “So what’s up, Buck,” Becca asked as she took up the entire loveseat.</p><p>“So, yesterday something big happened. I know we don’t really talk about my soulmate for obvious reasons but I met him yesterday. Steve came into the bakery,” Bucky said with a smile.</p><p>“James,” Winnifred said softly but Bucky could read the worry on her face. She thought that he had finally lost it.</p><p>“No, really. We can FaceTime him,” Bucky said. Bucky and Steve had been texting this morning and he had asked if it was okay to tell his family that he was actually alive and if it was okay to call him since he and his family had believed he was dead. Steve had immediately agreed, not wanting Bucky to have to hide him from his family or lie to them, as long as he called after two. It helped that Steve understood that Bucky’s family would be hesitant.</p><p>“Alright, James,” George said and Bucky knew that his dad only called him by his name when he was worried.</p><p>Instead of talking again, Bucky pulled out his phone and went to Steve’s contact and pressed the FaceTime call button. Steve immediately answered and Bucky felt his breath get knocked out of him at Steve’s brilliant smile. “Hey, Bucky,” he said.</p><p>“Hi, Stevie,” he said with a matching smile.</p><p>Winnifred looked at Bucky with wide eyes and then she was hugging him. “Oh, Jamie, I’m so happy for you,” she exclaimed.</p><p>Bucky has dropped his phone but Bucky had seen his father pick it up. “Captain Rogers,” he heard his father say.</p><p>“Please call me Steve, Mr. Barnes,” Steve said with charm on full blast.</p><p>“You can also call me George,” he said though he sounded cautious.</p><p>Becca was the next to talk to Steve. She took the phone to another room and apparently came up with some pretty colorful threats because Steve actually looked a little nervous when Becca came back and handed the phone to Bucky.</p><p>“Steven, you must come over for dinner,” Winnifred said.</p><p>“I would hate to impose, Mrs. Barnes.”</p><p>“Nonsense. We never thought this moment would come, we want to meet you. And it’s Winnifred, darling,” she said and really how could Steve say no.</p><p>So, that’s how Steve found himself in the Barnes’ apartment for dinner. Everyone was nice though Becca was a little scary. Steve feared a day if she and Natasha ever met. They would get along like a house with fire.</p><p>Winnifred hugged him on more than one occasion, as if not believing he was real. Before the end of the evening, she pulled Steve to the side, and Steve was sure that he was about to be threatened again but instead she hugged him once again before talking. “Treat my boy right,” she started.</p><p>“Of course, Winnifred,” Steve said.</p><p>“Let me finish,” she said and paused. Steve said nothing so she continued. “Take care of my Jamie. He experienced heartbreak, true gut-wrenching heartbreak when he was only seven. He was so happy when your recording said his words but having to explain to him that you were gone, that you were dead, was one of the hardest things George and I ever did. He has been through more than some people triple his age. He found his soulmate and lost them all in the same day. I know that you did what you did for the country and I can’t fault you for your sacrifice but I am telling you now if you ever hurt my son I will make you wish you were still back in that ice.”</p><p>At that moment, Steve saw his own mother in Winnifred. Sarah Rogers has been small like her son but she also took no shit from anyone which is where Steve got it from. She would have done anything to protect him. “I would lay down my life for Bucky. All of my friends, Jonathan included, found their soulmates and had a family and lived their lives. I never thought I would be able to have that but then I found Bucky. I know we met yesterday but he is my soulmate and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”</p><p>Winnifred considered him for a moment and then made up her mind. She nodded once, hugged Steve, gave him a motherly kiss on the cheek, and they went back to the rest of the Barnes family. Soon enough Steve was walking Bucky back to his apartment. “So does this count as our first or second date,” Bucky teased.</p><p>“Neither,” Steve simply said. “Friday night, let me take you out to a swanky place and then maybe we can take a walk. What do you say?”</p><p>“Did you just say ‘<em>swanky</em>’ in an honest to god sentence,” Bucky said and then he was laughing.</p><p>“You know, you jerk,” Steve said but he was also smiling.</p><p>“Friday. Pick me up here at seven,” Bucky said. He kissed Steve’s cheek and then went into his apartment. Bucky took a quick shower and then called Phil. He knew it was late but he kept odd hours sometimes.</p><p>“Bucky, are you okay? It’s rather late for you to call,” he said immediately.</p><p>“Phil, you’ll never believe what happened yesterday. My soulmate, Phil, he’s alive. I met him,” Bucky said dreamily.</p><p>“Oh,” was all Phil said.</p><p>“I know you say there are no perfect people but he is. He’s so fucking perfect and my family loves him and, Phil, he’s alive,” Bucky continues.</p><p>They talked for a while until Bucky needed to go to sleep. He had to bake tomorrow morning. He thought of sky blue eyes, strong arms, large hands, brilliant smile, and what the promise of Friday would bring as he started to fall asleep.</p><p>•••</p><p>As much as Phil truly hated to he had to report to Fury about Bucky and Steve. He went to Fury’s office first thing in the morning. “Coulson,” Fury greeted.</p><p>“There’s been a development,” Phil said. Fury said nothing so Phil continued. “Captain Rogers met James two nights ago. James confided in me late last night. How do you suggest we proceed?”</p><p>“Does your cover remain intact,” Fury asked.</p><p>“As far as I am aware James does not know my true occupation and Captain Rogers is unaware of my role in James’ life.”</p><p>Fury was quiet for a moment, formulating a plan now that variables had changed. “Keep your cover. James is not to know,” he said.</p><p>“And Captain Rogers?”</p><p>“He doesn’t have the clearance,” Fury said as if there was nothing more to it. As if they were pulling strings and orchestrating more than just Steve’s work.</p><p>“Sir, are you sure? Is Captain Rogers was to find out he would see it a betrayal.”</p><p>“It is for James’ safety. If he or Captain Rogers were to become compromised, it would be easy for you to bring James in since he considers you a familiar face. Captain Rogers would fight me on this if he were to know but he doesn’t have the clearance.” And that was apparently that.</p><p>•••</p><p>Steve and Bucky faced ups and downs over the next year. Steve announced that he was alive and that he had found his soulmate. “I was discovered alive nearly a year ago. While trying to find my way in the new world, I found my soulmate. We now walk through this life together. I have acclimated to the modern world in private as I found my place and got to know my soulmate,” he had said.</p><p>He hadn’t said who his soulmate was but people found out a few days after the press conference. It wasn’t hard considering that Steve and Bucky had already moved in together. With the knowledge that a small local business owner was Captain America’s soulmate, Brooklyn Buns’ business had exploded. After a few weeks, it had gone back to the regulars along with many tourists wanting to see Captain America’s soulmate and the hopes of seeing his words but Bucky still kept them covered.</p><p>Much to Bucky’s perverse pleasure, people shipped them (rightfully so). But what really got him is the fact that Peter had changed his contact photo to fan art of him. “Why do people want us on a boat,” Steve had asked the first time he had seen an article calling them a ship.</p><p>Things were damn near perfect coming up on their one year anniversary. That is until Steve got called away a week before their anniversary. Steve had been honest about his work. He told Bucky about SHIELD and how he went on missions. Bucky had even met Natasha and Clint. Clint said that he fell in love with Bucky the first time he had tasted his baking and would tease that if things with Steve didn’t work out, Clint would happily be a rebound. Bucky would dramatically roll his eyes. He sometimes jokingly say that he’d consider it but most of the time he would gently shake his head and say that he was with Steve until the end of the line.</p><p>Bucky worried about Steve when he went but he trusted Natasha and Clint to keep him safe and he understood why Steve did it. Bucky’s only condition that was Steve come home to him in one piece.</p><p>Steve had been on the mission for three days when it happened. Peter has been on his break when he came rushing to Bucky. He pulled Bucky into the kitchen, leaving Ned to deal with any customers that may come in before he said anything. “Pete, are you alright,” he asked.</p><p>“Mr. Barnes, the news. It said that Mr. Rogers was,” he said but the words stopped. Peter handed Bucky the phone which already had CNN pulled up.</p><p>
  <em>Explosion At UN, Captain America Believed To Be Amongst The Deceased</em>
</p><p>Bucky skimmed the article. Steve had been seen going into the building just before the explosion but he hadn’t come out. No one seemed to know what had happened. Bucky covered his mouth with his hand and had to hand Peter his phone back before he dropped or threw it.</p><p>“Mr. Barnes? Bucky,” he heard Peter ask but he seemed so far away.</p><p>“Pete, can you and Ned handle closing?”</p><p>“I, uh, I think so,” Peter said.</p><p>“I’m leaving. I’m going to see if I can get ahold of anyone who might know what’s going on. If you need anything, call or text Becca of my ma. Don’t tell them what’s happened if you need them. Just tell them I suddenly felt sick. The most important thing is just making sure that the lights are off and the doors are locked. Okay,” Bucky asked.</p><p>Peter nodded and Bucky was already leaving. He told Ned that he was heading out but Peter knew what to do. He forced himself to wait until he was home before he started calling. He called Steve first but he didn’t answer the first call or the second or the third and Bucky was about to have a panic attack by the fourth. Next, he called Natasha and Clint but they didn’t answer either. By then he was full-on sobbing and when he called Steve again because he didn’t know what to do.</p><p>Bucky physically collapsed when he answered. “You’re alive. The news, it said you were dead and then I couldn’t reach you or Nat or Clint. I was so worried,” he sobbed and he was sure that he was barely understandable.</p><p>“I’m alright, Buck. I was in the building with the bomb but I’m okay. Clint and Nat are a little shaken but we’re all alive,” Steve said.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Bucky said.</p><p>“Bucky, someone is after me. We aren’t entirely sure who. You aren’t safe at home. A high ranking official of SHIELD will be at the house soon. He’ll take you to a safe house and I’ll meet you there,” Steve said. “You need to pack a bag with a few days worth of clothes and any essentials. Okay?”</p><p>“What about my family,” he asked.</p><p>“They aren’t likely targets but there is a SHIELD agent staked out by your parents' apartment and one is going to shadow her. I’ll make sure that they are safe but because this attempt failed, you are the best way to draw me out and make me vulnerable.”</p><p>“Okay,” Bucky said and forced himself to get up from where he collapsed onto the kitchen floor.</p><p>There was a commotion on the other side of the line. “They’re calling a meeting to strategize. I need to go.”</p><p>“You can’t go out again. You’re hurt.”</p><p>“I’m not going out, not yet. But it is members of my team so I have to be there. Everything will be alright. I promise. Till the end of the line, right,” Steve asked and Bucky would hear his soft smile.</p><p>“Yeah. Till the end of the line. When will I see you again, Stevie?”</p><p>“Tonight,” Steve said.</p><p>“I love you,” Bucky said. Steve repeated it before he really did have to go.</p><p>Once Bucky had heard Steve’s voice, he had begun to calm down. By the time there was a knock on the door, Bucky had packed everything he needed. Bucky took his small bad and went to the door. He had already turned off all the lights off which wasn’t a problem since there was still enough natural light coming through the apartment windows. When he looked through the peephole he saw Phil.</p><p>“Phil, I’m so sorry but now’s not really a good time. There’s just a lot—“</p><p>“Mr. Barnes,” Phil said and that was enough to shut Bucky up. The only time Phil had ever called Bucky Mr. Barnes was the first time they had met when Bucky was ten. “I’m here to ensure you safely make it to the safe house.”</p><p>“Phil?”</p><p>“Time is of the utmost importance, Mr. Barnes.”</p><p>“Cut this ‘Mr. Barnes’ bullshit. Phil, what’s going on? Steve said a high ranking SHIELD official was coming,” he said and he was about to say something again but then it clicked. “You’re the high ranking official?”</p><p>“Yes. We must be leaving now,” Phil said.</p><p>“Wait. We need to talk about this. What the hell is going on,” Bucky snapped. He still hadn’t moved from the doorway.</p><p>“We need to go, Bucky,” Phil said back. “I’ll tell you on the way but you aren’t safe here.”</p><p>Saying no more, Bucky picked up his bag and locked the door before going with fill. They got in a nondescript black car and Phil started to drive. Silence hung in the air for about ten minutes before Bucky broke it. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on?”</p><p>“Someone made an attempt on Captain Rogers’ life. You are a very possible target and I’m taking you to a safe house,” Phil said.</p><p>“Yeah, I know all that. But you’re a therapist. Do you work for SHIELD or something?”</p><p>“I’m not a therapist. It was my job to keep an eye on you and make sure that you were safe,” he said though he could practically feel the emotions coming off of Bucky. He had seen Bucky mad, mad at the world and mad at himself, but this was different.</p><p>“Did my parents know who you are,” Bucky asked next.</p><p>“No,” came the reply.</p><p>“Why me? Why did SHIELD choose me?”</p><p>“We knew that you were Captain Rogers’ soulmate,” Phil said.</p><p>“How? I never told you that. I never told anyone that. My parents sure as hell didn’t tell you either.”</p><p>“Peggy Carter was at the museum when you found out. She heard you tell your mother. She asked that SHIELD make sure you were safe. She felt that she owed that much to Captain Rogers.”</p><p>Bucky stalled for a moment and then he saw fucking red. Sure he had been mad but he just realized that Phil had known. “You know Steve was alive for months before we met. You didn’t say a fucking thing.”</p><p>“You didn’t have the clearance,” Phil said and he saw Bucky go still.</p><p>“Clearance? I didn’t have the goddamn clearance? I thought you were my friend but you watched as I suffered my entire life and you could have told me months before Steve and I met that he was alive but you said nothing!” Silence fell again. “Did Steve know? Know who I was before we met? What about Clint and Natasha?”</p><p>“No, they didn’t have the clearance,” Phil said.</p><p>Another stretch of silence.</p><p>“Stop the car. Let me out,” Bucky said but Phil didn’t react. “I said let me out,” he yelled.</p><p>“It isn’t safe. Once we get to the safe house, you can get out of the car,” Phil said.</p><p>“I will jump out of this moving car if I have to. I suggest you pull over before I do,” Bucky threatened and Phil did pull off the road this time.</p><p>As soon as the car stopped, Bucky was out of it and Phil followed suit.</p><p>“Bucky,” Phil sighed.</p><p>“Don’t fucking call me that,” Bucky spat. “That’s what my friends call me. I thought you were my friend but you just played me.”</p><p>“James, it’s not like that,” Phil tried.</p><p>“Like what? You’ve been in my life since I was barely ten. Becca doesn’t remember a time without out. You were at my high school and college graduation and you were at Becca’s high school graduation too. You’ve been birthdays, holidays, special occasions, everything! You watched me grow up but I was just some fucking pawn in a game I didn’t know I was playing and I’ll tell you, Phil, I don’t want to play anymore. Your entire job was to play me, get me to trust you, and you did it beautifully. You did it with a tangled web of lies,” Bucky yelled as cars passed them.</p><p>“I do care for you and Becca and your parents. I don’t have children, but I have watched you and Becca grow up and you two are the closest I will ever come. My intentions were never for you to get hurt,” Phil said honestly.</p><p>“So how did you see this ending,” Bucky asked.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Phil said. Without another word, Bucky stubbornly got back into the car and they drove to the safe house without another word.</p><p>“Bucky, thank god you’re okay,” Steve said as soon as Bucky walked through the door. “Coulson, this is my soulmate, Bucky,” Steve introduced.</p><p>Phil opened his mouth to say something but Bucky beat him to it. “Yeah, we met.”</p><p>“It was a pleasure, James,” Phil said and went to walk away.</p><p>“Hey, Phil,” Bucky called. Phil turned to look back at him before Bucky talked again. “It’s Bucky.”</p><p>“Of course, Bucky,” Phil said hesitantly but Bucky just gave a sad smile and nod.</p><p>As furious as Bucky still felt, Phil had been his life longer than anyone who wasn’t family and before this Phil had been family. Bucky wasn’t sure he would be able to ever fully forgive Phil but he was willing to try to salvage a tentative friendship when his and Steve’s lives weren’t in immediate danger anymore.</p><p>Four days later nothing had changed and that’s how Bucky found himself playing go fish, because there was no way in hell he was playing poker against Natasha, with his soulmate and about half a dozen SHIELD agents in a safe house in upstate New York on his and Steve’s one year anniversary. On the first day, Bucky had been informed that SHIELD agents were making sure his family was safe and keeping his bakery open until he would be safe. Bucky had broken protocol to tell his family and Peter what had happened.</p><p>SHIELD had figured out who was trying to kill Steve, the why was still a little fuzzy, but they were taking him and SHIELD estimated that he would be caught within thirty-six hours.</p><p>“You going to take me to a swanky restaurant when all this is over,” Bucky teased the night of their anniversary.</p><p>“I’m never living that down, am I,” Steve asked but he smiling.</p><p>“Never,” Bucky confirmed.</p><p>•••</p><p>They were finally home. Bucky had ended up being at the safe house and that was fine when Steve was there but he had had to leave for two days and Bucky had been pretty sure that he had been going to lose his mind. Though, during one of those days, he was able to have an honest conversation with Phil. Things were on shaky ground with him but Bucky had a feeling that their friendship would mend with enough time.</p><p>Bucky had refused to leave their apartment for two days and he refused to let Steve leave during that time as well. On the third day, Steve convinced Bucky to let him go to the store. “I’ll be back in less than an hour,” Steve had said.</p><p>“You’d better be because if not, I’m going to call Nat to beat your ass and drag you back,” Bucky said from his cocoon on the bed. Steve had rolled his eyes but he kissed Bucky’s forehead which was the only part not wrapped in a blanket.</p><p>At the store, Steve got enough food so that he would be able to make a simple dinner. He also met up with Natasha who gave him the small box that he had asked her to keep for him.</p><p>When he got home, he started dinner (spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread) and got it mostly done before telling Bucky to shower and get dressed. While Bucky was in the shower, Steve changed and finished the dinner. By the time Bucky wandered to the kitchen, Steve had already played everything and was standing as he waisted for Bucky.</p><p>“Stevie,” Bucky said.</p><p>“Come on, don’t want dinner to get cold,” Steve said and Bucky sat. Before Steve sat down he made a big show of just remembering something.</p><p>“Is the dessert burning,” Bucky teased.</p><p>“Nah, just remember something though.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“This,” Steve said as he got to one knee in front of Bucky and pulled out the small box. “When I went into the ice all those years ago, I never could have imagined that I’d be this happy. I never could have guessed that it would have been the best decision in my life. You are my soulmate, my other half, and without you I will never be complete. I don’t ever want you to be alone again. James Buchanan Barnes, will you marry me? Will you be with me till the end of the line?”</p><p>“Yes,” Bucky said as he also got down to Steve’s level. “Till the end of the line,” Bucky repeated. They ended up staying in the floor and just holding onto each other for so long that dinner went cold, not that either of them were going to complain about it.</p><p>Steve had gone into the ice during World War II, expecting to die having never met his soulmate. Bucky had thought his soulmate was dead since he was only a child. Against all odds, they had found each other and carved out a life for themselves.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>